New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-11-29

tween the Curia and the complete extlrpa'ioh Va
the new and purer doctrines This work accom-
pshed the ground was clear for the full organiza-
ton of the Inquisiton. which forthwith procccded
to establish itself everywhere and to devise anu
elaborate the most thorough and uthess system OF
procedure eyer conceived by the mind OF man ior
the oppression and enslavcment of his fellow
creatures. The greater portion of Mr.. Lcas llrst
volume Is occupied by a most paInstakIng and eX
haustive examination or this system. Set forth IN
language of s. udcl moderation, fortified at every
step by the most trustworthy authorities and the
most irrcfragible documentary evidence, inns
analysis is not only profoundly interesting. but full
of the most valuable urgeston. In tAe practice
of the II by ONCE is seen the steady progress OF
| irresponsible power iii the downward course inva-
| riaby taken by men when. under whatever pre-
text whc her of reli slon or patriotism they nndcr-
take to compel general assent to particular opln-
ions. During the Terror IN France all principles of
Justice were as ruthes,ly violated and Ignored a.
by the InQIisltion: and III both eases the original
projectors of the persecution undoubtedly sin
ccre and honest in their convictions But the spc-
cial lesson of the lnquiStion seems to be- that the
effort 10 do God service, when pursued without
responsibility or check, mag produce effects IN no
| way dlsnguishabe from those which would follow
| opea and consistent worship of the Principle Of
| Evil
The purpose Of the InquiStion was 20 root ont
hcresy II was not to administer Justice. A.. how
ever, haresy is al intangible thil-, 4 creation
of the mind. and rs the lnqus tors
could not lay bare the intellectual processes Of the
| accused, they were compelled to be guided by
| external appearances. With many of the Walden
seS and Ga h1r the work Of conviction was easy.
for these hcretics gloricd in their faith and were
| Jealous IN testifyIng even 70 death. But the MI
crity of men have not this supreme courage of
their CONVICTIONS and experience soon showed that
the average suspect wonld deny his hcrcSy. ahJure
il, swear to anything and promise ANYTHING, 70 save
| his life ana property and freedom TO destroy
| these avenues Of escape the lnqWSiion swept away
every defence and safeguard Jurisprudence had
erected 1t held all it, trials in secret. II refused
| prisoners the aid of counsel. 1t even punished an
offer to defend an accused person a. Authorship OF
hercsv II denied the accused access to the charges
| preferred against him. II withheld from him the
names of the witnesses. Ii employed the baSeF'
fraud, to entrap HIN. II practIscd Systematically
the blacklist pcrtidy. Ii subjected him to the most
cunning croSS-cXamina'ion al the time keeping
him in ignorance of every fact II was necessary for
HIM to know in order II defend himself. When all
these methods failed to induce confession IT re-
sorted to torture and here it exhibited the most
diabolcal cruelty coupled with the most hciiish
Ingenuity
If the prisoner was full Of courage when first
raigncd lie would b" sent back To prison an left 20
anguish there for weeks. months. or even years
Time nothing to the lnlu'sit!on. Success was
everything 1t knew that starvation often broke
the stoutcst spirit If starvation failed it tried
the rack. Scif-accu~ation, hoW"vcr,was only one
of the ends aimed at. What it most desired was
accusation of previously unSuSpectcl persons. By
procuring such d'nuncation, often male under
torture or other stress and durancc II was enabled
/ f..1.v
the corners of society. TO obtain the
Of exercising a terrorism which embraced whole
communities AMI nations. The better to break
down all dcfcnccs II dccTc"d that obedience to It's
lntcrrogatorics was 70 supcrscde all human ties,
relation, and obligations 1t made the hereto an
outcast from his kind. and it So .Idcrcl that no
man could hold himself secure from The mpench-
ment of hcrcsy. The mcrcst gossip and tattlc the
Dose rumoT voiced by the most notorious scandal
mongcr, the cnyious caumny of personal hatred.
the imbece babbe OF intoxIca.ion. the innocent
miscoastruc.ion of childish perceptions. each aud
all furnished pretexts not only for accusation but
also Tor conformation. The man. woman or child
charged with here,y literally BAD no rights Aeon
sation was IN nmcty-gin" cases ont of a hundred
equivalent 10 conviction, and conviction, ~ the
majority Of instances meant ruin, and u thc minor
ny death.
Al,nos, from the beginning Of persecution the
purpose of the Inqui-Ition was tainted los greed
This arose inevitably on, Of the practice Of couiis
eating the property Of the accused. The aid OF The
secular power. though enforced by the constant
threat Ecclesiastical cen,ur,s was too commonly
secured by PARTITION of the spoil- and before long
the scan1alou. spectacle was frequently pre-
scntcd Of Inquistors, Bishops and Prince,
quaircllng fsrcely over the property which
had been wTc,tel from alleged hcIctic,
who had not been convicted. So IA
paclons did the b'uchciarics of this plundcriug
system become that finally III wac the practice to
enc all the estate of prisoner ,hc moment DC
was arrested. and though lc might be- IN jail TO-
months before even an examination Of hs ci.c wa.
had his possessions would he distributed among
the spoilers without any attention paid f. the
idle ceremony If trial and condemnation WItn
regard to the employment of the stake, Nj Lea is
satisfied that the allegations of tradition ere cx-
acscratcd. The subject is one httc Illuminated
by rec. rds, but such survive appear 10 Justify
the concu-ion that while no doubt considerable
numbers Of hrrotics were burned. tie pIopDrti ION
delivered over to the SECULAR arm for this runi Do
meat was much smaller than has hitherto been be-
hcved. lie, however, very thoroughly dspo,cs Of
the modern Catholic assumption that tnc Church
was moi responsible for the fires Of the auto .-dc-ic
he show, cOnclu-ivcly that the fiction of shIlnk-
ing from the spllling Of blood wa, boldly swept
aside by The lnGuial;ors themselves. and tina, they
did not hesitate 10 assume full rcspOns. bIiy Tor all
the cxtra-Iud cial murders thew pcrpetratcd.
Nor is il 10 be imagined that if they burned but a
small percentage of their victims they were the
more humane. In fact burning was commonly thc
least painful penalty inflicted by them. The con
dcmncd who escaped the stake were either doomed
70 A.e Imprisonment under conditions
which rendered that living death. or
they were sentenced to spend years IN distant pA-
grmarcs, yaricl by scourgngs in every church
they passed; or they were condemned TO "wcir
crosses "a species Of punishment which carncl
with it 50 deep degradation that the bearer
was spurncd from among his kind and refused the
means of making a living; or he was dispatched
upon a crusade, which was about ~ fatal rs mod
arm uilnr pc1lfiou In almost every case he M.